Father’s Little Helpers

In support of the adage, “Good help is hard to find,” I think I’ve found my hired hands, and they do a great job. The kids have always been interested in power tools, and who and blame them? There is something fascinating about a tool powered by gas or electricity, it does all, or at least most, of the work for you. Though this is often the provenance of boys of all ages, A has a distinct engineering streak in her, and all machines are of interest to her.

Last week N indicated that he’d like to try mowing the lawn, and not only was he incredibly cute doing it, but he really did a nice job. Very conscientious and thorough, I was very impressed. Not only is it a good way to entertain him, but it actually helps me out a lot, because I can go and weed-whack while he mows, within reason.

Not wanting to exclude A, I asked her if she was interested, and she jumped at the opportunity and also did a great job, though you really see how differently their minds works. N is very precise and methodical, following the lines and making neat rows. A, on the other hand, is all over the place. She starts off in a straight line, but is soon veering of at all sorts of curves and angles. It’s hilarious to watch, and not the most efficient method, but she is thorough and thoughtful about whatever task she undertakes. That’s just the sort of person she is.

In the end, the kids like it enough to almost be at odds over who gets to mow. How cool is that for a dad? Now if I could only get them to be that way over making supper.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Pottery by Fire and TCOB

Even though pottery has come to a end, we had one final get together with the crew. KM knows lot about pottery, and he wanted to try baking the pottery in a pit fire as opposed to a kiln. The idea is to create a really hot fire with sawdust, which he had mounds of because of his work. The way it works is you make a massive bonfire, and bury the pottery deep inside. I was willing to do it at our house, but DE stepped up and offered his house, which is much more suited to the task because he has this amazing fire pit.

We met in the AM, and those guys set it all up. We planned on roasting hot dogs and marshmallows in the process, and it was all set up to be really fun day, which it was. The fire burned beautifully, slow and steady, and not a conflagration, which is good, because we were right in the middle of the woods. Because of the trees, it was nice and cool, and thankfully there was no wind. It turned out to be a perfect day for the event.

At some point, as the fire burned and the dads hung out, I started getting antsy because there was the market to prepare for, but also, I didn’t want to spoil the fun and take the kids away. Since the kids were having a blast playing in the woods, DE said it was cool to leave them and just come back when I was done. I felt bad, but figured A&N would be happy if I left, anyway, and would have been bummed to have had to go.

So I left, and got a lot done in the 1.5 hours I had. I was able to get some things together for the market and make supper, which was good, because after pottery, we had to jet over to White River Paper, then to Pro Optical in W. Leb to get A’s new glasses adjusted (they fit perfectly now), then back home for N’s t-ball game, which was the second to last one, the penultimate game.

Never a dull moment on this end. Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Dumpling Frenzy and Second Market

One thing I’ve found about doing the market is that complacency will kill you. After one market, it’s easy to sit back and feel good about yourself that you pulled it off, but before you know it, one week has passed, and it’s time to do the dance all over again.

With this in mind, we really worked diligently this past weekend to get the dumplings made and finished, though it wasn’t easy. It took longer than we anticipated, and there were several points where we could have easily taken a break and put it off until later in the week, when yours truly would have been riding solo. This way, we bit the bullet and finished, and were able to have the week free to do other things, like chop wood and mow the lawn. Oh yeah, there’s also a barn that needs building.

We are going to have figure out a new plan on being more prepared, however. When you wait until the last minute to make the fillings, it really sets you back. The more you’re ready when the zero hour arrives, the better your life will be. Wow, are dumplings an allegory for life? Who would have thought?

The second market is upon us, and just FYI, the weather is slated to be brutally hot and ugly. Last year, we had beautiful weather all week leading up to the market, and then, almost without fail, on market day, there would be record high temperatures with high humidity. Oh well, sometimes you can’t get enough of a good thing.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Real Man’s Work

N did the mowing the other day, and it was too cool for words. He’s such a cute kid, so earnest, eager, and determined to finish what he started. A real man, to say the least.

I was out cutting the grass, and whenever I work outside, he usually likes to hang out and watch or take part if he can. He is fascinated with machines, and runs along behind me whenever I mow the lawn. We have a power assisted mower, which means that it has a lever you push that turns on a motor that powers the front wheels, making it easier to push. I figured that it would make it possible for him to push the mower, and sure enough, he did it. Not only that, but he mowed most of the back lawn, and enjoyed it. At least he said he enjoyed it.

Whatever be the case, he had fun, and it’s a nice way to include him in on the yard work, something he really enjoys. It sure beats watching TV.

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

Surviving the Local Market

There was no getting around attending the local market because we are right there at the library when it all starts. Besides, we can’t spend our lives running away from our source of guilt, right? As I’ve mentioned, we felt bad about not doing the local market, a fact exacerbated by the people giving us a hard time for it. I figured it would be easier just not to show up, but we figured if we’re not vendors, we can still support the market by being customers, and they are our friends and neighbors. Plus, the kids have a lot of fun.

I was there as the market got started, so I helped out with the setup, partly to assuage my guilt, but also because it’s nice helping out. The kids were already running around and having fun, so it boiled down to finding something to do while they ran themselves into exhaustion. This proved to be a lot more challenging than I imagined, and it reminded me of being at a college frat party, where I would wander around, looking for a place to camp out for the night because I failing miserably at meeting girls.

And, of course, I ended up spending more money than I wanted to, so I needed a place to hang. At some point, our friends, the H’s, had a booth, and I parked myself there and begged them to let me hang out. I’ll tell you, it ain’t easy to kill three hours without dropping a big chunk of change, but I'm learning. Interestingly enough, the market was rather slow, though the vendor turnout was strong. The kids had a blast playing in the grass, but I think next week I’ll hang in the library.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Daniel Göttler for the pic.

Making Friends

We were at the library the other day and a really nice young boy came up and started chatting with N. It turns out that they are both playing on the same t-ball team, or at least the same league, if you can call it that. I hate to confess, I didn’t recognize him, but he was really nice, and so polite and well-mannered.

Anyway, it’s nice to see N bonding with the guys, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned about growing up, it’s that when you’re a guy, sports opens doors to making friends. I know that as they get older, the hyper-macho environment of jocks isn’t necessarily healthy for boys, or for that matter, society as a whole, but for N, who tends toward the shy side, it’s a great way to make buddies. This is especially true because he’s a decent athlete, and as time goes by, this will give him some credibility.

For someone like A, it’s easy to make friends, because she’s so outgoing, and loves interacting with people. N tends to ride her coattails, but at some point, it’s better for him to develop his own circle of friends, especially since he can’t hang with the big girls all the time. At some point soon, their interests will simply diverge significantly.

What was really cute was the librarian, MD, asked if the kids could water the flowers out back because of the heat, and they were happy to. When the time came to do it, however, A was all ready to go, but N decided that he’d rather hang out with his new buddy and chat. It was a one person job, and the boys watched A do it from inside. N’s buddy relayed this fact to me.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Stephen Eastop for the pic.

That Guilty Feeling

Okay, the local market is approaching, and I am faced with a bit of a dilemma. First off, several people have given us loads of grief over the fact that we are not doing the local market, and believe me when I tell you, we feel really guilty. Not enough to do the market, mind you, but people have no concept of how hard we slaved last year, and as much as we loved doing the local market, it kept us working every day of the week. If this was our only gig in life, we could do every farmer’s market out there, but R works full time, I work part time. Toss in the fact that I’m training to be a real man while trying to jump start my glorious freelance writing career, and let us not forget the most important matter at hand, the kids, and... well, you get the idea.

The fact is, when we pondered whether or not we would do any markets, my first thought was forget about it, it wasn’t worth it. Money isn’t everything, right? However, when we decided that we’d only do one market, suddenly my cloud of depression lifted and it all seemed possible. Doing one market meant that it was plausible to spend two days making dumplings, rather than every day of the week. With a little organization, we could pull it off. Sure, we wouldn’t make as much money, but we also wouldn’t be miserable and depressed, and that’s all that matters, in the end.

Anyway, I digress, as usual. The other problem I have is that there is no way we are not going to the farmer’s market, because the kids love it, and it’s an enjoyable time for all. Plus, we spend that part of our day in the area, so we’re right there in the thick of things.

This should be interesting. The only thing is, what sort of excuses am I going to come up with?

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Sigurd Decroos for the pic.